Princess Celestia was a bored pony. A very board pony. She had spent another day in court listening to another pathetic and rather stupid argument made by another ignorant noble that could have easily handled the whole thing in a lesser court. Celestia didn't need to be bothered by every little petty thing that happened in this town. Like today, one noble had the gall to take the lawn trimmer to court because the grass was not the preferred height. Who even measures their grass anyway? It's not like the neighborhood councils cared that much. All they cared about was if your grass was cut!

She held the court for bigger precedings, the fact that ninety-percent of her court time was filled with shit like this?

It was dumb, in every literal and nonliteral sense.

Thankfully when six rolls around she's done with that crap. But today she spent another dinner in the throne room doing paperwork. Now most of her work revolved around simply signing paperwork. Her secretaries and the houses wrote just about everything, she just had to read it and either approve or disapprove bills, complaints, and the like.

Celestia sighed.

She was bored…

"Oh shit!" the mare cursed when she realized something. In a panic, she shuffled through the stack of signed papers looking for a specific sheet. In her blank state of mind, she realized that she had been lazily signing and approving bills and papers without even reading them. Not the best thing to do when your approval is so coveted. The mare slid her fingers dutifully through the stack of paper before she found one that she definitely remembered. With a sigh of relief, the mare transferred a small stack back to the 'unsigned' stack.

Celestia was now an unhappy pony.

The mare rubbed her face with both hands. She was exhausted. Unlike popular belief, she was just as much of a mortal as anypony else…

With one last sigh, she let her arms go limp, letting them slap against the top of her thighs. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to call it a day and go to bed. Maybe stop by the dinning hall and get a cupcake... or twelve...

Or thirty-five?

"You look tired," Notepad stated as she continued to read from something on her clipboard.

"I'm exhausted…" Celestia confirmed as she wilted in her throne.

Notepad glanced at the mare before she finished reading her document. "Here," the mare said as she slid a sheet of paper off her clipboard and in front of the solar monarch. "The orphanage has requested a thousand bits to repair some of their playground equipment. Apparently, it's old and the headmare is worried that might break and may lead to injury."

Celestia blinked. "Really? Well shoot… Headmare Care Taker knows how much I support the orphanage and the foals. I'm more than willing to give her anything she needs!" Grabbing her quill, the mare hastily signed the paper. "And give her four-thousand more bits for future issues." Celestia grabbed a blank sheet of paper and scribbled down a note before signing it as well. "And this note."

Notepad took both the document and the note with a nod. "I'll get it to her tonight. Since I'll be near there anyway."

"Thank you, Notepad."

"You're welcome, Celestia."

As the head assistant was getting ready to make her leave, the doors to the throne room burst open as Cadance and Twilight rushed into the room in a panic. Behind them were several concerned looking guards as they chased after the two teens.

"Auntie!"

"Princess!"

"Cadance? Twilight?" Celestia questioned before she stood up and rushed down the stairs of the dais. Once she was close enough, the mare noticed both teens terrified looks and wondered why Cadance was wearing Raven's pants. "What happened!?"

Both teens didn't answer as they rushed towards the mare, slamming into her and grasping the her dress tightly as they sobbed into fabric. Celestia was shocked and horrified at their current state. Their clothes were filthy, they reeked, their hair and fur were matted, and they had been actively crying for some time now.

"We found them at the gates!" one guard stated as he approached. "They kept mumbling about the princess and being foalnapped!"

"WHAT!?" Celestia sputtered. Frantically, she looked around the room for her daughter. "Where's Raven!? Where's my daughter!?"

"We've galvanized Royal Guard, Princess!" the unicorn stallion assured. "They're already searching for her!"

"I'm not going to sit her and let some freak have their way with my daughter!" Celestia shouted. "I'm going out there!" Both Cadance and Twilight protested, not wanting to be left alone. They tugged on her dress, pleading and pulling for her not to leave. The princess tried to protest and was about to go naked before the heavy thuds of boots coming down the hall and into the room grabbed everyone's attention.

That metallic, living suit entered the room, dragging some poor thestral stallion by his bleeding muzzle. The poor bastard had seen better days as he lay limp, bruised, cut and bleeding from his less than glorious drag through town. As he approached, Frost tossed the sack of shit forward. He landed with a painful grunt and a cough as he tried to push himself up on shaky arms.

Celestia stared slack jawed at the stallion before her gaze drifted towards the suit of armor. "There's your culprit," ~Raven~ stated venomously.

Celestia shifted her gaze to the equally shocked guard. "Please take my niece and my student to the baths and have my personal maids help them get clean."

The guard nodded as he stepped forward and gingerly ushered the teens from the princess and out of the room. Twilight and Cadance gave the Celestia one last concerned glance over their shoulders before they left the throne room. In a flash of red light, Raven stepped out of her Warframe. She looked no better than her friends, but the eye patch looked nice and somewhere along the line she had found a skirt to wear.

She glared down at the stallion as she stepped around him and hugged her mother. Celestia was both grateful and relieved to return the gesture, but never took her own gaze off the stallion as well. The stallion held himself up by his arms before he lifted his head, revealing his face to the throne room.

"Lord Umbara!?" Celestia sputtered in complete surprise. "What is the meaning of this!?"

"Son-of-a-bitch foalnapped us," Raven spat.

Celestia chose to ignore her daughter's inappropriate cursing. She had something else and significantly more important to deal with. The dark stallion glared at the solar mare as he did his best to sit up. This is not how he wanted to meet this witch, no, he wanted her kissing his hoof after he freed the dark queen.

The stallion dropped his head and smiled, finding this situation rather amusing. "Well… if you must know…" the stallion grunted as he placed a hand on his knee and pushed himself into a standing position. "I hate you, Princess…"

Celestia reeled back in surprise as though she had been physically slapped. "What! Why?"

The stallion huffed and threw his arms into the air in exasperation, making it look like it was that obvious. His arms slapped his sides before he started speaking. "Isn't it obvious!?"

It wasn't.

"No, Umbara. It isn't," Celestia answered, glaring at the stallion.

The stallion laughed in response to her ignorance. "I hate you for what you did to my people!"

"Did what!?"

"The subjugation we suffered after the Civil War!" he shouted.

Celestia released her daughter and took a threatening step forward, pointing a threatening finger at the ignorant stallion. "I didn't do anything! The Thestrals attacked in retaliation! And they were beaten!"

"You put us down like dogs! And you banished our queen!"

Fueled with rage, Celestia's mane and tale burst into white hot flames. "She's gone you ignorant fool! And she's never coming back!"

If Umbara was intimidated, he didn't show it. If anything, he tried to intimidate her back by flaring his wings. "You have done nothing but bring ruin to my people! You have ruined this country!" he shouted while pointing a finger at the floor and swiping his arm. "You adopt this pathetic excuse of an ape! And you will pay for it all!"

Raven saw the strike from a mile away.

Celestia didn't have time to react.

Umbara's fist was engulfed by the gargantuan glove as Frost caught the strike in his hand. Umbara stared at the glove in confusion for a second before he was forcefully pulled away from the pair and in front of something else entirely. The stallion stared at his captured fist before he threw a punch with his free hand, which Frost caught in his other hand. Umbara grunted as he tried to pull his hands free, but it was all in vain.

Then came the cold.

The unbearable, numbing cold!

Umbara screamed as a horrible, agonizing pain began to creep across his fingers. His screams began to increase in volume as his fingers began to go numb. His fur started to singe as his skin began to turn purple from the intense cold. The stallion was forced to a knee as his knuckles began to turn white. The horrible agonizing pain was unbearable as his skin became flash frozen. Frost began to clench his fingers harder and bend the stallion’s wrists backwards. By now, Umbara's screams had reached new heights before they finally gave way.

Ice shattered as Umbara's frozen wrists gave way. Frost tore the stallion’s frozen hands off his arms in one of the most violent ways imaginable. The Warframe tossed the severed limbs behind him, the frozen balls of flesh it the floor and shattered on impact. Raising his hands next to his head, Frost slammed his hands against the sides of the stallion's head.

Umbara awoke alone in a pale, white void. The stallion stood confused as he surveyed his surroundings. Or, the lack of surroundings. It was only him.

Then the temperature dropped…

The hairs on the back of the stallion’s neck went on edge. "Oh shit!" He spun around in a rapid attempt to find that demon. "Show yourself!" he demanded, his shout fading into the void of nothingness.

“How dare you threaten the operator…”

The stallion spun around, searching for the voice within the void, but ultimately found nothing. Umbara steeled his resolve, widened his stance, and ground his teeth in anger while clenched his fists in preparation for a fight. “How dare I? How dare!? How dare you! You ruined everything!” he shouted at the voice. The stallion started to walk forward as he held up a hand and pointed a finger into the void. “I was so close to achieving everything my people have wanted for centuries. And you destroyed it all!”

There was a slicing sound as a horrible pain came from the stallion’s shoulder as his arm made a meaty slapping noise against the ground. Confused, he stared at the severed limb in shock. His mind went blank as his brain tried to process what he was witnessing. He didn’t have time to even scream as a hand grabbed his shoulder where his arm once was and spun him around. Frost stared down at the stallion for a mere second before he lifted his sword over his helmeted head and shoving the weapon straight down and into the stallion’s chest. Umbara gagged as he felt the frozen blade pierce his skin and puncture his organs. The stallion fell to his knees as Frost continued to push on the handle of the weapon. Resting his open palm on the hilt, Frost buried the weapon to the hilt as the stallion was forced to kiss the hilt.

“You will suffer…”

Frost slapped his palms against the side of the stallion’s head a second time and held it in place. A resounding crack filled the air, followed by another. Several cracking sounds filled the air. The stallion’s eyes went wide as he watched as dozens and dozens of cracks covered the Warframe’s armor. The light emanating from the was blinding. There were several more explosive cracks before the suits armor shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.

The stallion’s eyes went wide as he stared up at the mutant creature before him.

“What are you!?”

Frost leaned forward, his disgusting, rotten flesh touching the stallion’s cheek.

“A demon…”

Princess Celestia looked away with a wince, gluing her eyes shut while Raven watched as the stallion screamed at the top of his lungs as Frost forced his thumbs into the stallion’s eye sockets. Blood spurted from the Umbara's eyeballs as Frost forced his thumbs all the way to the knuckle within the stallion’s skull. Releasing the Thestral’s poor body, the stallion landed with a meaty thud, gasping for air.

Frost turned to Raven and looked down at her while she slowly transferred her gaze from Umbara up to Frost.

He told me everything.

"Do you know where to go?" Raven questioned in Orokin.

I have a list of hideouts and names.

"Tell me…"

Celestia glanced at the stallion as the flames on her mane and tail sputtered out and died as she stared at, what she assumed to be, unconscious stallion. In the background, Raven and her suit, servant… friend thing, conversed in her native tongue. With a wistful sigh, the mare headed towards the doors of the throne room and pushed them open. Leaning out, she requested one of her guards to retrieve Captain Bronze and a doctor as soon as possible.

After several minutes -and a healing spell- Captain Bronze and one of the castle doctors entered the throne room and dealt with the treasonous stallion. As the back-stabbing thestral was dragged away, mumbling some sort of gibberish, Raven approached Captain Bronze and tapped him on the shoulder. Turning, the stallion gave the young princess a questioning look before she held up a filled out sheet of paper.

"A list of names, hideouts, and other important information about the insurrection," Raven explained. Bronze took the sheet and narrowed his eyes at it. He wasn't sure how she got the information, but he didn't want to find out what process was taken in order to gain said info.

Turning to one of his subordinates, he waved them over. "Get me Lieutenant Flare," he ordered. He was going to need everypony for such an event. Especially one that will take place over the entire nation. Thanking the princess, he took the sheet of key information and exited the throne room.

Operator, there is one more facility on the far side of the city.

Raven glanced at the Warframe for a brief second. It was so fast, even Celestia failed notice it.

Where?

A warehouse on the northern side of the city.

I think we'll check it out tonight.

Supposedly, tonight is the night of meeting. I thought you would like to pay it a visit.

Raven smiled at the Warframe remark.

I'd like that…

Four ponies stood around a long, rectangular table, in a dimly lit room within their warehouse. With the latest turn of events involving the deaths of many of their followers and the capture of their leader, the group was at a loss.

"Now what?" one stallion, clad in a simple white dress shirt stated. He was the one to finally voice what everypony was thinking.

"What do you mean?" one mare in a dark blue dress pouted. "Everything has been ruined!" she huffed, crossing her arms with a pout.

"Look…" a second thestral stallion in a red vest a grey shirt sighed as he rubbed his face. "Just because Umbara's gone doesn't mean we've been defeated. We still have plenty of forces and ponies on the inside to make this work! Well just be delayed a little"

The mare and the first stallion sighed, the former hugging herself and the latter resting his chin on his knuckles. All four of them stood in silence, contemplating their best course of action.

"What do you think we should do, Lacewing?" the mare asked the fourth stallion in the group. He didn't respond immediately, seemingly lost in thought. The three others just watched him for several seconds…

Before he slowly tilted forward, smashing into the table, his body then shattering on impact when it hit the concrete!

The mare screamed in horror as the two stallions jumped back, equally as horrified.

"Oops…"

Both stallions drew their swords but didn't attack. They knew that if this guard was good enough to sneak up on them, who knows how good they were in combat. The mare on the other hand, took the opportunity to hide. ~Raven~ didn't say anything but held up her left hand. The sounds of a rushing, winter breeze started to fill the air as a cold, misty fog began to coalesce at their feet and hooves. ~Raven's~ arm began to shake as a small ball of ice began to coalesce in her palm. The winds began to roar violently as the trio were surrounded by a flurry of fog and snow. The storm quickly became so violent that the pair of stallions struggled to even see!

It was as though… that guard was controlling the brewing storm!

Slowly, ~Raven~ lifted her palm over her head. In tandem, the storm seemed to intensify…

She closed her fist…

Like a sudden winter cold snap, the storm condensed in on itself like a black hole. The frozen fog and bits of snow target the pair of stallion's like a magnet. Their screams of agony lasted a mere millisecond as they were flash frozen. The action was so powerful and so violent, every cell in their bodies burst into nothing but ice crystals.

It was as beautiful as it was tragic.

Behind a large shelving unit stacked with boxes, a lone eye watched as her friends were frozen solid by that wizard. Her eyes went wide as she watched the pair as they died on their hooves. She needed to get out of here! Panting loudly, but hopefully not loud enough to get caught, the thestral mare rested her back against one of the larger boxes. Okay, so the door was just on the other side of the shelves opposite her. If she could move fast enough, she could get to the door and get out of here!

She peeked around the corner…

Her two friends were still there, nothing but frozen statues, never moving. But the elemental wizard was gone. Perhaps he left? Or maybe he was looking for her in a different part of the building…

She had to leave now!

The mare turned on her heels and sprinted for the door. Her heart pounded in her ears, her breathing was heavy, labored, and latent with panic. She winced as her hooves clattered loudly against the concrete floor, clearly giving away her position. But if she could get outside, she could get free! That wizard lacked wings, so he couldn't follow her into the skies!

"Gak!" she gagged when she was violently grabbed around the throat and lifted into the air. She struggled and gagged, palming the cold metal gauntlet that had lifted her into the air. In her panic, she kicked her legs and flapped her wings in a frantic -and rather pathetic- attempt to free herself. Her kicking and flailing form was quickly carried away from the door and back towards the center of the room.

"You… you can't do this to me!" she pleaded weakly. The stallion crushing her windpipe wasn't doing her any justice. "I am un-ARMED! ACK! I know my rights! You can't hurt your suspect!" The wizard didn't say anything, but he was clearly listening. "I know the law dammit!"

By now, the thestral mare had stopped her attempts to free herself and opted to just hold the stallion’s wrist and try to take some of her weight of her neck. There was a flash of bright red light that made the mare wince.

"Honey… I am the law…"

The mare’s eyes widened when she saw the face staring up at her.

Her screams faded into the night like dust in the wind…

Lieutenant Flare stared into the mirror as she focused on trimming her fur. The mare had been focusing on the small tuft of fur that had been getting out of control above her bosom. The little orange bits of hair gathered in the sink beneath the mare. Once she was happy with her look, she grasped on of her bare breasts and lifted it. Surveying her mound of flesh, she found nothing that needed trimming or fixing, she moved onto her ears. Grabbing the soft appendage, she pulled it down slightly and started to trim away at the longer ends. She removed a little tuft on the top of her ears that had begun to get out of control. A few snips later with her other ear, she placed the scissors on the edge of the sink. Turning on the water, the mare dunked her face and gingerly washed the hair from between her breasts and bosom. With a sigh, the mare turned off the water and dried herself off with a towel.

Exiting the bathroom, the mare greeted the day, and her apartment, naked as the day she was born. There was something about the freedom that she enjoyed. It was also something that felt natural. Like, they were supposed to do it.

She wasn't truly sure.

Horse People Go Naked? she thought. Interesting name for a story... or maybe a porn magazine?

Walking into the living, the orange mare sauntered past the other pony in the room as he stared into a full-length mirror, tying his tie. The stallion glanced at the mares bare back in the mirror. "You going to stay like that all day?"

"It's my day off," Lieutenant Flare replied before she jumped onto the couch with a relaxing sigh. "And besides it’s my apartment, I'll do what I want!" spreading her legs, the mare grabbed a magazine off a nearby coffee table and began reading it. What was beneath it was the local paper with the headline 'Revolution Inevitable?' followed by an article listing off a series of raids done across the nation by the Solar Guard.

The stallion stared back into the mirror and continued with his tie. "What about you?" the mare questioned as she turned the page, focusing on an article about a little filly and her latest clothing designs that were starting to take the nation by storm. "What are you going to do?"

The grey stallion finished off tying his tie and stretched his leather-like wings. "Unfortunately… I get the pleasure of trying to prove to the princess that I am trustworthy." Grabbing a hair roller, the stallion used the sticky paint brush style object to collect any hair on his suit. "What Umbara did was childish and self-centered."

"That bad huh?" Flare said as she moved towards a different article.

"That moron tried to bring back a war that has long been forgotten," the stallion explained. "There is a reason we gave up so many years ago." As he rested the roller on a nearby table, he looked himself over. Baring his fangs, he surveyed their pearly white surface.

"At least Celestia trusts you."

"She's not the one I need to convince," he admitted.

"You sound scared," Flare said as she glanced out of the corner of her eye, locking it with the stallion in the mirror.

"I'm over nine-hundred years old," he elaborated. "I was there when we lost the war, it wasn't worth fighting for after that. I'm proud of what I did, but what Umbara did is one of the most insulting things I have ever suffered from." The stallion leaned back from the mirror and started adjusting his cuffs. "If that moron had been there like I was, he would have known why we surrendered… if anything we Thestrals came out of it for the better."

"But you do realize that not only will the princess not be trusting, but most of Equestria will look down upon the Thestral community," Flare explained as she lowered her magazine. "I can only imagine what the Knox community will do. Or how they will feel."

"We're vampires. We have some fairly thick skin," the stallion replied.

"But you do realize the whole 'blood sucking' thing is going to make ponies freak out," Flare addressed while waving her hands in mock panic.

The stallion rolled his eyes. "It's not like we're a plaque. So, we don't eat fruit boo-hoo! And it's not like we need blood to survive." The stallion ran a hand through his hair. "Besides, most of those stupid rumors are made up anyway. If the fact I can see myself in the mirror is anything to go by…"

Flare giggled in agreement before grabbing her magazine again.

"I'm just sick of the b.s." the stallion huffed as he smoothed out a crease. "Thestrals need to stop acting like we're oppressed, and ponies need to stop thinking the Knox are vicious blood sucking monsters. So, we occasionally drink blood and practice a form or dark magic, it's not like we're trying to rule the world."

"But dark magic is bad, and you should feel bad!" Flare laughed in a silly, sarcastic voice.

The stallion chuckled. "You of all ponies know that dark magic isn't what it's cracked up to be. Just don't use it on yourself." The stallion tilted his to the right slightly as another thought came to mind. "Or most magic, if I'm being honest." Stepping away from the mirror, the stallion grabbed a pair of pins off the same table the roller was on. Reaching up, he pinned one of them to his right collar, adjusting the image of Celestia's cutie mark before he pinned the other one to the opposite collar, this one of an old flag of Thestralshire.

Turning around, he faced his nude housemate. Ironic really, asking someone who had forgone clothing to see how his looked. The mare laid -like one of those Prench mares- with her cheek resting on her knuckles, admiring her male companion. Approaching her, he stood over the nude mare and looked down at her while she smiled innocently up at him. Glancing down, she adjusted herself and reached forward. Grabbing his zipper, she pulled it down and unbuckled his pants.

Throwing his arms into the air in exasperation, he just threw away all that preparation for nothing. With a flick of her wrist, she unbuckled his belt and let gravity take his pants to the floor, his buckled clacking against the floor. Grasping the edges of his boxers, Flare pulled them down, releasing his semi-flaccid members from its hiding spot. Grasping his shaft, she leaned forward and began suckling his cock, bringing him to full mast.

"You know, if you were horny, you could have just told me," he said, slightly annoyed.

The mare nuzzled his erection. She could feel her nipples hardening and a familiar heat and moisture betwixt her legs. "You never answered my question so I…" she slowly dragged her tongue up the side of his long, dark prick. The Thestral stallion shuddered pleasantly at the loving attention. "Thought I would help you relax~"

The thestral stallion shuttered, his eyes fluttering. "I… I don't have time for this… shit…"

"You have an hour," Flare breathed as dragged her moist appendage across the flat head of his penis. "Besides…" His scent was intoxicating, and she could feel her moistening lower lips as her love began to leak down her ass crack and onto the cushions below. "You don't need to get naked…" Slowly, she ran her soft hand up the stallion’s shirt, rubbing his toned abdomen and pectoral muscles. "Mhmm… all I care about is between your legs…"

Standing up, Flare wrapped one arm around her lovers’ neck and used her other hand to palm his crotch, pinning it to his stomach as she tenderly rubbed the sensitive underside and used the tips of her fingers to tickle his scrotum.

"And I want it between mine~" she whispered huskily.

The stallion took a deep breath through his nose before he grabbed his mare by sides and forced her to spin around. Stepping out of his forgotten dress pants, he pushed the solar guard around to the end of the couch. With a mighty shove, Lieutenant Flare squealed as she tumbled over the armrest. With her ass in the air and tits rubbing pleasantlt against the fabric of the couch cusions, she moaned whorishly as he palmed and spread her butt cheeks. Now at the perfect breeding height, he grabbed his now painful erection and guided it into her awaiting folds.

Her lower lips spread around his invading member as he speared her, but her walls hugged him like a vice. The orange mare struggled to keep her hooves under her, the tips of them barely touching the floor as he mounted her. With a groan, she felt his large cock kiss her cervix.

"Then I guess I'll breed you for an hour," he said forcefully before grabbing both her ass cheeks, spreading them to reveal her tight star while also pinning her to the couch.

She squealed and moaned like a bitch in heat for the next hour…

Princess Celestia sat on her throne as her and Notepad were working on the latest bought of paperwork given to her by Captain Bronze. The raids had been a success and a number of ponies had been arrested across the nation. All that was left was to do the paperwork. Next to the seated mare, Raven leaned up against her mother's throne were her arms crossed and a deep frown etched on her face. So far everything she had done on this planet had nearly screwed her. She had been kidnapped, twice now, freed herself twice, she's been poked and prodded with needles.

Sighing, she hoped things would get better.

At least Twilight and Cadance were okay. Both were under heavy guard, for obvious reasons. Even though Raven and Cadance hated being surrounded by guards, but the latter of the two could not be happier to have them around. Unfortunately, on top of everything that the pink princess had to deal with, Cadance has an estranged relationship with her actual parents, the only family she had was Celestia and Raven, but since she was now in a relationship with Cadet Shining Armor, she had been spending a lot of time with him recently. He too, wasn't too thrilled about what happened either. Thankfully Cadance's attacker had been dealt with.

A boyfriend could worry though.

The girl was knocked from her thoughts when the doors to the throne room opened. Turning her head in that direction, Raven watched as a thestral stallion in a black suit entered the room, escorted by two solar guards. The girl watched as the trio approached. Once close enough, the two stallion guards saluted as the thestral bowed politely. Celestia, ever polite as always, stood up and bowed a well. Raven, on the other hand, glared at the stallion.

“Princess,” he greeted.

“Knight Lua, so good to see you,” Celestia greeted as she approached the Thestral with a welcoming smile. The stallion smiled as well as he hugged the mare, who in turn reciprocated the action. As the pair finished their embrace, the stallion looked past the mare and towards the young teen still perched next to the throne. Raven narrowed her eye at the now named stallion.

She continued to glare at him as he approached her. “Princess, a pleasure to meet you!” he greeted her as politly as he could muster while holding out his hand. The only courtesy that she gave the stallion was a glance at his open palm. Closing it, he pulled his arm back. At the bottom of the dais, Celestia gave her daughter a disapproving glare. “Anyway,” he said, changing the topic and turning around to the elder princess. “I’m sorry for everything that has happened recently,” he said as he descended the dais.

“I had no idea this was going on,” Celestia admitted as she watched him.

“No pony did,” Lua agreed one he reached the bottom of the steps. “Umbara was no idiot no less though.” Lua looked over his shoulder and spared Raven a sympathetic look. The girl rolled her eye with a huff and opted to hop down the steps of the dais. The girl accepted a soft peck on the cheek before she silently left the room, wanting nothing to do with the thestral.

With a sigh, Celestia watched as her daughter left the room. “Come, we can talk to her later,” Celestia said, leading the stallion out of the room. “We really need to address this issue right now. How is your sister, by the way?”

“She just gave birth to a filly,” Lua answered with a smile. “She named her Vinyl. Sweet little thing. She looks like a marshmallow with blue icing for hair.”

“Awww!”

Over the course of the next few hours, the trusted stallion did his part in representation for the Thestral and Knox communities. Like he had done dozens of times before, he clarified misconceptions, answered key questions, and told all of Equestria that this was the acts of a mad stallion with delusions of grandeur. All he really did was go through the motions.

But his thoughts kept falling back to the young princess.

He needed to prove to her that not all Thestrals were bad.

He would get that chance though.

Lua, who desperately needed a break from hours of talking to news ponies, large crowds, and countless others, he headed towards the last area where he needed to talk to. All he needed to do was addressed the new cadets about the situation. As the stallion rounded the last corner into the castles training grounds, he was greeted by watching Raven sparring with a sandbag. He watched as she punched and kicked the bag violently and without remorse.

Now, was as good as time as any.

He didn't make it two steps when he was stopped by a significantly larger minotaur bull. Surprised, the stallion stepped back as to not aggravate the new arrival.

"Excuse me sir," Lua said politely, but the guard didn't budge.

"He only listens to me," Raven said as she kicked at the sandbag, the fabric making loud thumping noises with each strike. "And as far as he is concerned, no one gets near me unless I approve." The girl finished her strikes and headed towards a nearby table, leaning against it and grabbing a towel, wiping the sweat from her brow. "And considering what has happened recently, you can stay right there."

Lua sighed internally. "Princess I assure you-"

She silenced him by holding up a hand. "While I admit that I jumped to an unnecessary conclusion when you arrived. I can tell that there is something different about you," she grabbed a water bottle and took a long swig of water before lowering the bottle and started speaking again. "And I don't like it."

The stallion broke eye contact briefly, glancing to the side at being called out.

"I knew it…" Raven stated with a glare. Lua bit the inside of his cheek nervously. In front of him, the princess's guard rested his left hand on the pommel of his sword. Lua knew he wasn't wanted, but he decided to push his luck and hope for the best.

"Princess please-"

"Fuck off!" Raven cursed, waving her arm at the stallion. Pushing herself off the table, she threw her towel over her shoulder and started heading towards the showers.

"I'm a vampire!" Lua sputtered. Raven stopped walking and the declaration. She didn't move further, not even bothering to look over her shoulder. "I'm what's known as a Knox-Cal. A sub-race of Thestrals. I…" he hesitated, but sighed, continuing anyway. "I'm one of the few surviving Knox from the Lunar Revolution."

"And what is your point?" Raven slowly turned around and raised an eyebrow. The stallion suddenly felt nervous as his eyes locked onto the teens metallic eye patch. He and many of his comrades had suffered during both the revolution and his long life, but he could only imagine what tragedy took place to cause her to lose an eye.

He quickly realized he was staring longer than socially acceptable. But looking into her good eye didn't do him justice either. He saw war, death, and atrocities no mortal should ever bear witness to...

"We…"

Was it getting hot in here?

The stallion pulled nervously on his collar. "I'm not quite as old as Celestia but I am definitely up there in age. I… your mother trusts me. She has done me well over the years." The stallion lifted his arms slightly and let them drop as he thought about his next words. "I know my words mean nothing as far as an apology goes but please believe me when I say we're not all bad!"

Raven didn't say anything as she looked to the floor, then the stands, and lastly, the door behind her. Turning around, she left without a word.

Lua let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "...shit," he cursed in defeat as his hears went limp against the top of his head. "Flare was right… she'll like that… I guess?" Turning around, he ran his hands through his mane in disbelief. Of all the ponies he needed to convince, she wasn’t going to let the stallion near her for the foreseeable future. He was so lost in his failure, he didn’t notice the Warframe step up behind him. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Lua turned around and faced the armored stallion. “Yes?”

Frost held out his hand.

Lua raised an eyebrow but grasped the cold metal firmly after a few seconds.

He expected a handshake…

That is the closest answer of acceptance you will ever get out of her.

He did not expect a voice in the back of his head!

Lua silently jerked his hand free and held it close to his chest in shock, a look of surprise etched on his features. His blood red eyes were wider than saucers as he stared at the Warframe. “You know you could have just told me!” Lua doesn't like it when ponies use telepathy on him. It makes his skin crawl!

Frost hissed at the stallion in response to the stallions complaint. At first Lua took that as a threat, thanks to that primal response. It was common practice for Thestrals to hiss at each other in a show of intimidation. He didn’t react accordingly for two reasons. The first, because it was in appropriate. The second was because he realized that the stallion was actually speaking.

“...never mind.”

Frost gently grasped Lua’s hand and held it.

Give her time.

The stallion stared at where the pair were connected and let the word truly sink in. The princesses guard was right. With a half smile of acceptance, he nodded his head.

He would.

Author's Notes:

I don't like the ending, but I don't have anything better, really.

But as for the next chapter...